Drawing Cards in the Middle Ages to Rise in Ranks-Chapter 341 - 34: Fierce Battle

"General Losa, the Grand Knight Commander has issued orders for you to immediately join the Winged Cavalry unit, ready to advance and support the central army at any moment."

"Advance...advance?"

County Captain Liu Bowu, along with the County Magistrate who had hurriedly ascended the city wall, displayed expressions of disbelief on their faces.

Faced with the ferocity of the Jin Kingdom’s Iron Cavalry, even while standing on the city wall, they couldn’t shake the illusion of being crushed into dust by this steel torrent in an instant, let alone daring to leave the city to confront the enemy.

Losa did not explain; he simply smiled and said, "Gentlemen, Marshal Jil has given the order, and we are to leave the city to engage with the Jin forces. You only need to rely on the walls, and as the enemy approaches, offer support with your bows and arrows."

"If our army wins this battle, naturally, there is nothing more to say."

"Even if we do not win, we can deplete most of the Jin’s main forces. Then, the Jin will have no strength left to siege further."

The crowd had a brief pause in their hearts, almost as if they didn’t have to fight desperately with the Jin, they let out a sigh of relief.

Liu Bowu and others felt puzzled: Why would this barbarian general, with no duty to defend the land, fight desperately for them?

Watching Losa’s hasty departure.

Someone couldn’t help but mutter in a small voice, "These people must be crazy, leaving the city to fight the Jin dogs. If they lose, are we supposed to open the city gate or not?"

At that moment.

Losa seemed to hear the muttering, paused slightly, and said, "If our army is defeated, there is no need for you to open the city gates; prioritize the citizens of Qingshui County."

On the city wall, the group exchanged glances, feeling both ashamed and a sense of relief.

...

The Scout Cavalry messenger assisted Losa to mount his horse.

He exchanged a glance with Marshal Jill, who was already lined up and ready to advance at the city gate, and nodded slightly; Marshal Jill would be stationed in the central army.

He and Jeanne, respectively, commanded over seven hundred cavalry, including one hundred Scout Cavalry, one hundred twenty-five Winged Cavalry, twenty-five Armored Archers, four hundred Monastic Knights, and one hundred Imperial Knights.

The city gates creaked open.

The first row of retained veterans, driving mules and livestock, pulled dozens of "Hussite War Wagons," leading the exit from the city.

The Jin were born from fishing and hunting; their tactics are varied, but mostly rely on heavy cavalry assaults with light cavalry flanking. By backing up against the city walls, they can first eliminate concerns.

So-called back-to-the-wall battle, this is the essence of it.

The Hussite War Wagon is essentially a unique wagon fortress, requiring four horses to pull, carrying small-caliber firearms and cannons, regarded as a cavalry nemesis.

This tactic has been widely used both in the East and the West.

Losa’s troop’s temporarily requisitioned and modified "war wagons" are naturally far simpler compared to the actual Hussite War Wagons.

They are merely reinforced box wagons, outfitted with gun ports and iron plates.

These were thrust out of the city gates with a creak, connected front to back, quickly utilizing the city walls to form a bowl-shaped array inverted on the walls.

Once the carts and horses were in position, the pack animals were unloaded, and each war wagon was linked at the front with iron chains, preventing enemy horses from charging through the gaps.

Meanwhile, a layer of heavy, water-soaked quilts covered the war wagons, designed to prevent enemy fire attacks from igniting the simple wooden cabins.

Limited by preparation time, this was all that could be done.

Woodland Archers hid inside the cabins, nervously gazing through the gun ports at the seemingly motionless, ominously formidable Jin cavalry in the distance.

The retained veterans commanded the Farmer Soldiers, starting to deploy Iron Thorns and other simple traps in front of the wagon arrays; all Imperial Knights had been uniformly conscripted, leaving the infantry’s strength weaker than ever.

Marshal Jil solemnly observed the Jin Iron Cavalry, slowly beginning to mobilize in the distance, silently sighed.

Facing such a severe situation upon unfolding, that girl Jeanne really counted on him.

"The enemy is on the move!"

Marshal Jil shouted with all his might, "Everyone fall back to the wagon fortress, prepare to confront the enemy!"

...

Losa and Jeanne converged.

Over seven hundred armor-clad cavalry, arrayed in front of the city’s side gate.

They seemed undaunted by the prospect of appearing in this foreign land without cause, to combat the mighty Jin Iron Cavalry. Only the new recruits, like the Scout Cavalry unit, showed traces of anxiety on their faces.

Jeanne smiled and said, "When one is dreaming, no matter how absurd the dream may be, often there’s no awareness; perhaps this is the logic behind it."

Seeing Losa’s unwell expression, she slightly lowered her voice and said, "This time, I acted on my own will. Next time, I will certainly listen to you."

Losa responded with an "Hmm."

He could understand Jeanne’s concern; it’s often said that a flock led by a lion can overcome a pride led by a lamb.

But in reality, the weakness of the former is only greater than that of the latter.

From beginning to end, Jeanne had no intention of fighting side by side with these Great Song auxiliary troops or militia. Mixing a flock of sheep into a pride of lions would only make the lions lose their bravery as well.

The tactic of sheep-driving-wolf-eating is handy not only for Jeanne but also for the Jin people, who come from a background of fishing and hunting.

Moreover, ever since the Jin people moved south, they had been fighting these sheep-driving-wolf-eating battles.

Seventeen Jin Kingdom cavalry drove two thousand Song troops into fleeing disorderly, losing nearly half, a battle example that Losa recounted to Jeanne.

Only seventeen people, even with three heads and six arms, could genuinely kill only a hundred or so Song troops; the rest trampled each other to death.

Jeanne pressed her forehead with her hand, muttering, "Jill tells me the enemy has already dispatched the first hundred-man team to launch a probing attack on the car fortification."

Jill, as a Guardian Knight, had a special connection with Jeanne, allowing her not only to receive Jill’s messages but also to see the enemy’s situation through his eyes.

...

Outside the city.

Jin Wushu, or Wanyan Zongbi, was in a foul mood. He never expected that his vanguard would be inexplicably lost in such a place.

"These Song people in Qingshui County dare to kill my envoys, the enemies who ambushed my vanguard must be hiding here!"

Jin Wushu knew all too well about these so-called Song people’s backbone. As he led his army here, which county or large town did not shut its gates tight, allowing him to pillage the countryside at will?

If he hadn’t been rushing south to seize the Zhao-Song Emperor, a mere siege would easily scare the county magistrate and the local powerful families into offering wine, women, gold, and treasures for them to take as they pleased.

The Han conscript under Jin Wushu’s command advised, "Fourth Prince, we have chased far enough. Now, you have brought only half ten-thousand soldiers. If something really happens, Deputy Marshal Talan wouldn’t be able to account for it." 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"Ha, trivial Song people, not worth mentioning, weak like women. With my five thousand soldiers, I could traverse Jianghuai." Jin Wushu’s face showed disdain, but in his heart, he also contemplated retreating.

After all, not all Song people were useless. A Taoist in green assassinated Wanyan Talan recently, his swordsmanship was extremely skilled, almost costing the Great Jin Kingdom Marshal’s left supervisor his head, in front of several hundred personal guards.

Fortunately, Wanyan Talan kept two Shaman Priests who cast spells to drive the Taoist away.

Now, having ventured deep with a lone force, losing a few hundred soldiers in this county would mean there was truly no need to head south.

"In any case, first annihilate Qingshui County to avenge my fallen men." Jin Wushu clenched his command, "Pass down the order, chop wood and prepare to build siege weapons. The day the city breaks, all slaves, gold, and treasures belong to my men."

The conscript suddenly seemed to witness something unbelievable, exclaiming, "Fourth Prince, look quickly!"

Jin Wushu, a bit puzzled, followed the sound, only to see the city gates suddenly swing open. Armored soldiers, neatly queued, emerged from the gates riding in horse-drawn chariots in single file.

"Could it be that these Song soldiers are coming out to surrender to me?"

The conscript advised, "Fourth Prince, beware of enemy tricks!"

Jin Wushu was silent for a moment, nodding slightly, "When something appears abnormal, I must see what these Song soldiers are up to."

At this moment, his forces were converging on Qingshui County, several kilometers apart. If he had ignored protocols, he could have his swift cavalry at the city walls in a few minutes.

But Jin Wushu did not seize this opportunity, instead ordering his entire army not to act rashly.

Until a golden double-headed eagle banner suddenly rose among the car fortifications, and hundreds of bloody heads, held by "Song soldiers," were tied to the chariots.

Jin Wushu’s eyes bulged with rage, "It’s indeed these Song people’s doing. They think a layer of car fortifications can block my Great Jin Kingdom’s Iron Cavalry. I will make them pay in blood!"

...

Hundreds of swift cavalry acted first; these lightly armored cavalry didn’t directly attack the car fortification but tested the defenses from the side using their riding bows.

But as soon as they approached, they suffered heavy casualties.

The Woodland Archers’ coordinated volley took down over ten riders with each shot from their hundred-pound heavy bows, akin to medieval snipers, with precise archery and astonishing power.

The three hundred light infantry trained from the recruit training camp, mostly former hunters, also had decent archery skills, using the car fortification to shoot at the cavalry. In the blink of an eye, over ten more riders were felled.

While these swift cavalry were light, they each wore half-body armor, and a few even had their mounts covered in half-body armor to shield against arrows. Ordinary arrows were hard to penetrate.

Moreover, the Song troops on the city walls also began to exert effort.

While they might fear close combat with Jin people, standing on the city walls and shooting at the enemy from afar was within their capability.

The riding and shooting tactics of Jin’s swift cavalry seemed trivial when faced against the car fortification and Losa’s heavily armored infantry.

Observing the battlefield from afar, Jin Wushu’s expression slightly changed. Facing this porcupine-like, impenetrable car fortification, he immediately decided to withdraw the swift cavalry and let the Iron Buddhas charge head-on.

The Iron Buddhas heavy cavalry, akin to the armored cavalry of the Sassan and Eastern Roman Empire, were skilled in archery and horseback riding, capable of both riding and shooting and close combat with enemy formations.

During sieges, Iron Buddhas could also dismount and scale the walls.

On the battlefield, they had always been invincible. Jin Wushu believed that although these "Song soldiers" used cunning to ambush his vanguard, their strength and numbers were limited. Once the Iron Buddhas engaged, they would undoubtedly crush their laughable turtle shell with ease.